


The End of a Dream

by milkfruit



Category: Fire Emblem: Kakusei | Fire Emblem: Awakening
Genre: Festivals, Idiots in Love, M/M, i hope i did an ok job!, i tried to mix in some japanese/chinese traditions for the chon’sin festival!
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-10
Updated: 2021-03-10
Packaged: 2021-03-16 12:41:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,372
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29950140
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/milkfruit/pseuds/milkfruit
Summary: Vaike and Lon’qu attend a festival while visiting Chon’sin.
Relationships: Lon'qu/Wyck | Vaike
Comments: 3
Kudos: 3





	The End of a Dream

**Author's Note:**

> hi all!  
> recently i fell back in love with fire emblem so heres an ode to vaiqu, my fav pairing! hope ya like it!!

Vaike suggested he and Lon'qu go to Chon’sin.

Not just for the orphans there that they could help, but for Ke’ri. Her grave was situated on a hill overlooking the town in which Lon’qu grew up. It was right where she had fallen to brigands all those years ago; beside a stream, amongst the flowers… Lon’qu thought that if he could only see her now, he would be able to tell her so much…

Lon’qu puts his hands together in prayer beside the headstone. Praying was not something Lon’qu usually did, and it’s not something Vaike had  _ ever  _ seen him do in their years together. When Lon’qu is finished silently giving his eulogy, he leaves a rose in front of the tombstone. When he rises to his feet and turns to leave, Vaike follows after him.

Then Lon’qu stops in his tracks, halfway down the hill. The solemn ritual had left him without a clear mind for a moment, but when he finally regains his clarity, he pauses to tell Vaike a simple, quiet, “Thank you.”

“Huh?” Vaike asks. “Thanks fer what?”

“...For letting me come here. For allowing me this closure.” 

Vaike frowns, but quickly returns to his cheerful, boisterous self, throwing an arm around Lon’qu’s shoulder. “Hey, you know I’ve got yer back, partner! ‘Sides, you’ve helped me a lot too! This was only fair if ya ask me!”

Lon’qu ‘hmph’s, though his face is red and there’s a trace of a smile tugging at his lips. 

“...So?” Lon’qu finally looks at Vaike rather expectantly, and Vaike seems confused by Lon’qu’s soft expression coupled with his knowing question. “...Are we staying for the festival?”

Vaike’s eyes shine and widen, fumbling on his words for a second. “F-Festival, you say?!”

“...Yes. Tomorrow is the Festival of Dragons, a celebration held by the people of Chon’sin this time every year.”

“Will there be food?! Fireworks?!”

Lon’qu nods once. “Yes,” he seemed nostalgic about the whole thing, remembering when he walked the streets of this town with Ke’ri in tow during one of the festivals. “It would honor me if you stayed and celebrated it with me.”

“Sure thing, Lon’qu!” Vaike booms, nearly leaping in the air out of excitement. He pulls Lon’qu along back to town, and Lon’qu reluctantly lets him. Vaike went on and on about how he had never been to a real festival before, and that even the ones in Ylisstol were kind of boring and same-y. 

Lon’qu listened to his prattling on, and one thing he didn’t hear Vaike mention at all about the Ylissean festivals were the fireworks. Fireworks were a staple of the festivals here in Chon’sin, but apparently not where Vaike is from. That must be why Vaike sounded so stoked to see the fireworks in particular: it was something he had never experienced back home.

The following day, Vaike sleeps in, but Lon’qu is up and at ‘em pretty early, stopping by the local shops to pick up some supplies for the imminent celebration. The food and game stalls were being set up early on in the day, and the real festival began at sundown, and the fireworks would be set off at nighttime.

Lon’qu was back before Vaike woke up, setting his bags at the stoop of the humble bungalow they were renting out on the outskirts of town. Vaike awakens soon after Lon’qu’s arrival, wondering about breakfast.

Lon’qu suggested they just visit an eatery, but Vaike was all too taken with the festival business and was eager to eat from the food stalls that dotted the streets. Lon’qu smiles and waves his chin at him, signaling Vaike to follow. Vaike was excitedly following beside Lon’qu as they visited a stall that sold rice and fish in a bowl. Most of the stalls weren’t open yet so their choices of breakfast were limited, but Vaike could eat just about anything in the morning, so it worked out.

They were given two pairs of bamboo chopsticks to eat with, something Vaike was not at all familiar with. While Vaike tries to figure out the chopsticks, Lon’qu pops a piece of fish in his mouth and side-eyes Vaike. 

Vaike eventually gives up, stabbing the fish cutlet with one stick. Lon’qu shakes his head, scooting closer to Vaike and showing him how to use the accursed chopsticks.

“Like this,” Lon’qu instructs, and demonstrates how to hold them and use them to carefully pick up the food. Vaike  _ still  _ wasn’t good at it by the end of Lon’qu’s lesson.

“Ogre’s teeth!” Vaike curses. “This is too damn difficult! How did ya learn to hold these damn things?!”

“Patience,” Lon’qu says simply. He reaches over Vaike to position Vaike’s hands just right and Vaike tries to pick up a piece of fish with them. He barely succeeds, nearly dropping it before it reaches his mouth. 

“Hey! I did it!” Vaike yells in triumph, his mouth full. 

“Barely,” Lon’qu corrects, and Vaike laughs. Vaike continues to fumble with the chopsticks and Lon’qu shows Vaike how to quickly gobble down the rice with the too-difficult utensils, and when Vaike tries to do as Lon’qu showed him, he gets rice all over his face and the bench they sat on. Lon’qu shakes his head again, and he takes the bowl from Vaike, using his chopsticks to pick up a clump of rice and raises it to Vaike’s mouth. Vaike was strangely okay with being fed, and Lon’qu was even more strangely okay with feeding him. 

Vaike seemed to enjoy the food altogether, though; he ate it all happily, and Lon’qu did the same.

“I owe ya one, buddy,” Vaike says as he finishes up his meal.

While Lon’qu takes care of their bowls, Vaike snoops through the things Lon’qu brought back from his shopping trip. In one of the bags was a pile of fabric, and Vaike was too curious  _ not  _ to look. He reaches in and grabs whatever it was that was inside, holding it up. 

It was a… dress?

“Hey, Lon’qu, what’re these?” He holds the other one up and it was the same style, but slightly bigger and in a different color. 

Lon’qu sighs. He knew he’d have to tell Vaike about these at some point.

“...They’re called yukata.” Lon’qu lays the two garments out on the bed.

One was longer and skinnier, a bright red with black accents. The other was larger, a dull blue with white accents. “They’re traditional outfits the locals wear during festivals.”

Vaike points to the blue one. “...And that one’s mine??” He asks, assuming the much wider one was to be his. Lon’qu nods and Vaike beams. “Cool!! The Vaike was against wearing a dress at first, but if yer gonna wear one too, then hey, why not?”

“They’re not dresses, Vaike.” Lon’qu tries his best to educate Vaike on the customs of Chon’sin, but Vaike is way too thick-headed at times.

“Sure, sure,” He dismissively waves a hand at Lon’qu.

Hours pass, and it’s almost time for the festival. 

Lon’qu shows Vaike how to wrap the yukata around himself and how to tie it together with the obi. Lon’qu looked graceful doing it: how his hands slid through the fabric and how the end result hugged his body and made him look so beautiful… It was really a sight to see.

It’s dim with the light from the sunset painting everything red and orange. The warm summer sun had finally begun setting, which meant it was time for the festival to begin! Drums sounded and bells chimed, and the smell of fresh food wafted through the air. Vaike pulls Lon’qu along, visiting all the food stalls and playing all the games, until they end up carrying their prizes and eating food in between. Vaike had spicy dango on a stick, and Lon’qu had a box of takoyaki.

When the festivities were nearly over, they retired back to their bungalow to get a prime view of the fireworks. Vaike wore only half his yukata, letting the top half dangle off his waist, as the barbarian just loved to be shirtless for whatever reason. They sat on Lon’qu’s bed, as there was an open window with a ledge beside it. Vaike was asking practically every five minutes when the fireworks would start, and Lon’qu had to remind him every time that it’d be a while for them to sound off. Nevertheless, the night sky speckled with stars and the lights from the lanterns made for a gorgeous view. 

Then they hear more drums ring into the night, and Lon’qu looks at Vaike and says, “They’re about to start.”

Vaike grins at Lon’qu, excitedly leaning out the window for a better view. Lon’qu stays put, drinking his green tea silently. Within a few moments, a loud  _ boom!  _ resonates through the sky, followed by a streak of red that Vaike’s eyes follow all the way to its apex, where it finally explodes into an ocean of color — red, yellow, and blue sparks fill the air — and Vaike seems to be instantly entranced by it.

He shakes Lon’qu’s leg, saying, “ _ Didja see that?! It was amazing!”  _ And Lon’qu smiles, setting aside his cup and leaning out the window with Vaike. Another grand explosion, this time of three fireworks at once, all blossoming against the black of the night sky, and Vaike is cheering and laughing and he seems so happy to be here, with Lon’qu, in Chon’sin, watching the fireworks over head.

_ “Wooohoooo!!!”  _ Vaike cries out, cupping his hands around his mouth to sound out his excitement.

“Settle down,” Lon’qu says, but there’s a slight hint of a laugh through his words.

“No way! This is the first time I’ve seen fireworks, ya know! I want it to be somethin’ to remember!” 

They watch the fireworks in silence from then on, drinking in the perfect view and enjoying each other’s company. As time wears on, the two become closer, Vaike’s pinkie finger twitching as it makes contact with Lon’qu’s. Lon’qu looks down between them as their fingers intertwine, first their pinkies and then their whole hands becoming laced with each other’s. Lon’qu must have been conspicuous because Vaike awkwardly clears his throat, glancing at Lon’qu a couple times before fixating his gaze back on the fireworks as he spoke:

“Hey, uh, Lon’qu…? Can I ask you somethin’?”

“...Yes.”

Vaike gulps almost audibly. “Why did you… agree to go along with me? Y’know, to my village?”

Lon’qu thought about it for a moment, before providing the best answer he could muster. “It was a good cause,” He explains. “And seeing how passionate you were… made me passionate about it too.” And it’s not like Lon’qu had no dog in this fight: he, too, came from nothing. He came from a slum — homeless, no relatives to speak of, no one to love him or to care for him properly — and so he could relate to Vaike’s plight.

Vaike continues. “Puttin’ up with me must’a been real hard on ya. I’m sorry I’m so difficult to deal with sometimes, I just…” His eyes sparkle with unshed tears. “I like ya, Lon’qu. I wanted it to be you who came with me, because… Well, because it couldn’t be anyone else!” He rubs his eyes with the back of his free hand. Lon’qu leans forward, catching Vaike’s attention and making him look at Lon’qu.

“...Vaike,”

“What I’m tryin’ to say is…” he grasps Lon’qu’s hand with both of his own. He looks Lon’qu straight in the eye, and Lon’qu’s heart is beating a mile a minute, his face red up to his ears, alight like tiny matchsticks. “Well, I  _ love ya,  _ Lon’qu!”

Lon’qu’s breathing hitches, and he doesn’t know how to react except to squeeze Vaike’s hands harder. Vaike squeezes too, and there’s silence. 

“Haha… Even in a situation like this, yer still as quiet as always, huh…” He lets go of Lon’qu’s hands, reaching into the front of his obi for something he had stashed away: a tiny box, with an engraving on it written in the Chon’sin language: Lon’qu translated it as ‘I love you.’ Vaike opens it by a small latch on the front, and in the box is a handcrafted silver ring, with a jade ore right in the center. Vaike had obviously made this himself, with painstaking accuracy. “...Will this make ya talk, then?” He asks, and his face is just as red as Lon’qu’s. “...Whaddaya think? Marry me, Lon’qu?”

Lon’qu was speechless. The ring was beautiful, the atmosphere was both heavy and yet strangely light, and Lon’qu felt like he was both going to throw up  _ and  _ like he was going to cry. Lon’qu glances upwards at Vaike before taking the ring from its box, slipping it on his own ring finger and admiring it as it glistened and shone in the moonlight and reflected the fireworks off of its silvery plating. Even the jade piece turned more colors toward the center as he twirled his finger. 

Lon’qu swallows, his mouth suddenly dry, and then speaks slowly. “...I will marry you. Vaike.”

Vaike beams, tossing his arms over Lon’qu’s shoulders again, embracing him as a friend and lover would. “I love ya, Lon’qu!!” Vaike’s voice cracks and Lon’qu wriggles away from the hug only to look Vaike in the face and see that he was shedding tears now. Lon’qu uses his thumbs to wipe away his tears, cradling his broad face within his palms.

“...And I love you.”

Vaike surges forward and kisses Lon’qu, who accepts the kiss wholeheartedly, his chest feeling tight with happiness and anxiety and  _ love,  _ and warmth spread through his body like a wave crashing over him. Their lips meet again and again, all the passion and adoration they held for each other being expelled in that single moment. When they separate, Lon’qu is grinning, an expression that is new to him, and to Vaike as well.

Their foreheads touch and they laugh together, as partners  _ and  _ as lovers, Vaike’s hands around Lon’qu’s waist and Lon’qu’s hands settling at the base of Vaike’s neck.

This may have been the end of Vaike’s dream, but it was the climax of his and Lon’qu’s adventure together, and the beginning of their new life.   
  
  
  
  



End file.
